Stress Eating Lizards (Herpes in the News)

    Colorado Checkered Whiptails (Aspidoscelis neotesselatus) are a species of lizard found exclusively in southeastern Colorado. The most unique thing about this species is that they are actually all females. There is no need for males, as this species reproduces asexually by releasing an egg that will become an exact clone of the mother.

Recently, testing was done on this species to examine how noise levels in the environment affect a population. Blood was taken and examined and scientists found that this species had considerably elevated stress levels. Understandably, because the environment that these lizards live in happens to be a grassland that military aircrafts make frequent flys over. The US Army’s Fort Carson Military Base in Colorado Springs coincides with the habitat these lizards are native to.

An interesting adaptation in response to these raised stress levels experienced in these lizards is stress eating! The lizards have begun to eat more and move around less, likely to replenish energy lost to the body’s response to stress. This is especially interesting to scientists, as noise tends to lead to a freeze response in animals that prompts them to eat less, as they are constantly wary of their surroundings.

Not only is this study important to consider when thinking about how species deal with environmental stress and interactions with human noise in general, but also is an interesting story when considering military occupancy in areas. When I move to Hawai’i following graduation I would be interested in looking at how the species around the Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam are affected by the noise of the aircrafts. Additionally, how sea life is disrupted by the naval base.

Weisberger, M. (2023, March 29). This lizard species stress-eats to cope with noisy US Army Aircraft. CNN. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/americas/lizards-stress-eat-scn/index.html

Teddy (Theodore)

 Sweet little Teddy here is known as an eastern ribbon snake (Thamnophis sauritta) commonly mistaken for Thamnophis sirtalis, eastern garter snake. Teddy was found by the river side on a hill slithering away under bushes but was spotted by me, Kim, and caught by Chad. Surprisingly he was fairly calm and allowed us to pass him around for everyone to hold. 

Teddy and many other ribbon snakes are considerably small snakes with a growth around 18-26 inches as an adult. Eastern ribbon snakes are typically slender with long tail that is slightly less than 1/3rd of its total length. Like Teddy, and most ribbon snakes, they have 3 lateral strips down its back to its tail. However, some are able to have 4 lateral rows and the plain uniform yellow belly all are common characteristics of eastern ribbon snake.

Geographic range: 

Eastern ribbon snakes can be found throughout the Eastern north America aswell as the east of the Mississippi river, Maine, Ontario, Michigan, South-East Louisiana, Gulf states, aswell as across the eastern sea board. 

                                                            

Habitat:

-Streams

-Ditches

-Lakes

-Ponds

-Cattle Tanks 

Reproduction:

Typically ribbon snakes mate in the spring right after emerging from hibernation. The males tend to seek out females in attempt for mating. The offspring tend to grow fast and are considered mature by the second year and dont reproduce until their third year (females). Ribbon snakes litter ranges from 4-27 youngs but most have around 12+-. And have a life span of about 10 ish years if they live pass their first year. 

Reflection:

Personally, Teddy is a perfect beginner snake for those who are scared of snakes. He is calm and friendly so for someone who has no experience of holding snakes, Teddy is the first good candidate unlike his buddy we found 20-30 minutes prior. Due to this class I now have a better understanding of snakes and can differentiate more species than I could have before starting the class allowing these field trips to be more fun and interactive. 

Work Cited:

AnimalDiversity.org

        

Natural History of Green Anoles

 While studying at my pool the other day I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and spotted a small green anole (Anolis carolinensis) running along the wall. During the summer, I typically see a few basking on the bricks around the pool before being disturbed and running away. Luckily, I was able to catch a picture of it before it hid from me.

Because of the white dorsal stripe, this specific anole was most likely a female. Anoles have an interesting ability among lizards to change colors, although not as radically as chameleons do. They can change from green to brown when fighting for dominance or – in the case of this lizard – stressed. When I first saw the anole run by it was a much brighter green, but as I tried to run after it to catch a picture it definitely seemed to get darker around the head and tail which is shown in the photo (which is actually a screenshot from a video).

Anoles are arboreal. Their expanded finger pads allow them to quickly run across walls and plants as well as jump long distances without worry. I am fairly certain that they tend to live inside the piping and lamps and holes in the brick caused by them, which is why they are seen so often on this specific brick wall. It also is hit directly by the sun until around 3pm every day. When I saw it, the wall was probably at its warmest since it was midday – the sun was directly overhead.

This class has definitely made seeing the various anoles around my pool a lot more exciting now that I have the knowledge to recognize them as specific organisms instead of just “little guys.”

Elmer, Nicole L, and About the author Nicole L Elmer . “Backyard Biodiversity: Green Anoles.”    Biodiversity Center, 23 May 2022, https://biodiversity.utexas.edu/news/entry/backyard-biodiversity-green-anoles.

Killing the Turtles and Crocs [Herpetology BP#1]

 

We are killing the turtles, but you already knew that. We are killing the turtles and the crocs!!

    Today I will be sharing with you some disheartening information I gathered from the following article: "Anthropogenic impacts on threatened species erode functional diversity in chelonians and crocodilians" by R. C. Rodríguez-Caro 1,2,3 , E. Graciá2,4, S. P. Blomberg5, H. Cayuela6,M. Grace1, C. P. Carmona 7, H. A. Pérez-Mendoza8, A. Giménez2,4 & R. Salguero-Gómez. 

    For starters, I had to look up what anthropocene meant because that was a bit new for me. Anthropocene can be defined as: "the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment". This article looked at the threats that Testudines and Crocodilia face due to the pressure we have put them under. Some of the study that was observed in the article was examining 259 of the existing 375 species of Turtles and Crocs we knowingly have left on our planet. The studying looks at there life histories and threats to them. The Anthropics threats posed been humans today include the destroying of habitats for these creatures (which is the number one contributor to the threats against these animals), climate change (which is affected in large part by pollution), unsustainable trade (the selling and trading of these animals is thesecond biggest contributor to their decline at this point in time), and  poaching. These all are posing major threats to the biodiversity of Testudines and Crocodilia and if the rate of these threats continue and/or worsen we will start to see species of these animals starts to be endangered and/or extinct.

    As we know we locally don't see many Testudines and Crocodilias; we only have one local species of crocs which is in the family Alligatoridae (Alligator Mississippiensis). But from this article  have gained that if threats persist toward these animals we will have even less diversity than we already do. I am more of a visual person so this is one of the graphics from the article down below. It shows for us the different threats posed to ward these animals in different parts of the world and how drastic each threat is. I found this graphic very helpful in understanding what thearticle was articulating. The main contributor being habitat disruption. All 6 main areas of the world that this graphic is pulling from all have a heavy influcence from habitat disruption shown and the second biggest contributor being global trade/selling of these animal species.

Overall, the article dis talk about the results in the study of seeing whether the anthropocene affects did put these animals in danger and the study was does need to be further expanded upon but I believe that there is a strong correlation. There is no doubt in my mind that these threats are killing off these animals and if they continue we won't have much more animal diversity left on our already dying planet.

APA formtatted citation: C., R., Graciá, E., Blomberg, S. P., Cayuela, H., Grace, M., Carmona, C. P., A., H., & Giménez, A. (2023). Anthropogenic impacts on threatened species erode functional diversity in chelonians and crocodilians. Nature Communications, 14(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37089-5

MLA formatted citation: C., R., et al. "Anthropogenic Impacts on Threatened Species Erode Functional Diversity in Chelonians and Crocodilians." Nature Communications, vol. 14, no. 1, 2023, pp. 1-10, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37089-5. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.

Snakes in Media

Snakes in society have consistently been viewed as a symbol of evil or deception. Even in the bible, the serpent is the one that tricks Eve and Adam into eating the forbidden fruit and going against God’s orders. In modern society, snakes have been demonized in various ways, especially in children's movies. For example, in the Disney movie Aladdin, the main antagonist, Jafar, is depicted with a magical staff that has a cobra head on top of it, and furthermore, Jafar turns into a giant cobra at the climax of the movie. In addition to this, another Disney movie with the depiction of an antagonist snake is Robin Hood, where the snake Sir Hiss is the main antagonist's advisor and assistant. Along with the deceiving association, the snakes in both Aladdin and Robin Hood have the power of hypnosis to control other characters to help them get what they want.

Source: https://scrooge-mcduck.fandom.com/wiki/Snake_Staff

Beyond Disney, another popular franchise that has this correlation between snakes and antagonists is Harry Potter, where many main antagonists (Draco, Voldemort, etc.) were sorted into the Slytherin house that has a snake as their symbol. Furthermore, there are other correlations between snakes and the antagonists throughout the series, such as the basilisk, the symbol for Voldemort's followers, and Voldemort's python.

Source: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Nagini

This portrayal of snakes as sly and evil, especially when presented at a younger age, contribute to negative stereotypes against all snakes, even the harmless and nonvenomous ones. It also could contribute to the fear people have of snakes, especially children. This could diminish any curiosity children could have towards snakes and instead instill the message that all snakes are evil and dangerous. Overall, these negative depictions of snakes in popular media are likely fueling negative stereotypes against all snakes and contributing to people’s fear of snakes.